Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/

So the question is, does whatever this is imply that the dishwasher has some critical problem? It does a great job cleaning the dishes- there is no issue with that aspect of it at all. But my husband is thinking that this may indicate that it is leaking, somehow (although we're not finding any water on the kitchen floor coinciding with its operation... but he's afraid that it may be seeping in areas that we can't see from the outside, and doing all sorts of scary internal damage to the house). So if anyone could possibly shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated- thanks.

On 01/30/2014 01:54 AM, wrote:
Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/

So the question is, does whatever this is imply that the dishwasher has some critical problem? It does a great job cleaning the dishes- there is no issue with that aspect of it at all. But my husband is thinking that this may indicate that it is leaking, somehow (although we're not finding any water on the kitchen floor coinciding with its operation... but he's afraid that it may be seeping in areas that we can't see from the outside, and doing all sorts of scary internal damage to the house). So if anyone could possibly shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated- thanks.


Re the dishwasher, pull the toe-kick off and check for leaks/water damage underneath.

Re the vacation pics, for the love of God, get your husband a new hat. It borders on child abuse to make that cute
little daughter of yours be seen in public when her dad is wearing a hat like that. Sheeesh! ;-)

On Wed, 29 Jan 2014 22:54:30 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/

So the question is, does whatever this is imply that the dishwasher has some critical problem?

No.

It does a great job cleaning the dishes- there is no issue with that aspect of it at all. But my husband is thinking that this may indicate that it is leaking, somehow

Isn't the thick black line to the left of the rust the rubber gasket
that marks the boundary between the inside and outside of the DW?

And the rust is on the outside, right?

(although we're not finding any water on the kitchen floor coinciding with its operation... but he's afraid that it may be seeping in areas that we can't see from the outside, and doing all sorts of scary internal damage to the house).

When I was in HS, we had just moved into a house with a garbage disposal
and a dishwasher, things we hadn't had before. The garbage disposal
made such a racket no one wanted to use it. Since it was the first one
I'd seen, I didn't realize it was worn out and a new one would be quiet.
But also we had a septic tank and iiuc for that reason alone, using a
garbage disposal isn't good. We had a gas incinerator too, but my
mother was a widow and to save money she let the stuff she might have
burned with the gas dry out for days until it burned with just
newspaper.

The dishwasher worked but filled the room with steam when it ran.
Again, I thought that was normal, and everyone thought it was reason not
to use the DW. What it needed was a new gasket but at 11, I didnt'
know they sold new gaskets. But at one point I had some plan to fix
the thing, I guess. I turned off the valve under it and disonnected it
from the water line, and then after a while, I got stymied. (How
turning the water off would help get a new gasket, I don't know.)

Six months later, we noticed the non-ceramic floor tiles about 6 feet
away were coming loose from the floor, only 2 or 3 of them,, and it
might have taken me another 3 months to figure out why. The water
valve under the DW was dripping. I guess those loose tiles were
downhill. I reconnected things and everything dried out and the tiles
stopped moving. Then were right next to the cabinet base didnt'
normally get stepped on.

Similar thing in my powder room here. I was only out for 2 hours but
when I got back the pipe just below the toilet was spraying water, a lot
of it. Water sat on the powder room floor, the hall floor and the
kitchen floor and dripped through the floor to rain on the things in the
basement.

I've been through about 12 leaks for one reason or another, and I knew
by then that nothing in the basement would be damaged except the
cardboard cartons I store things in, often hard to find the size I want,
so now I just let them dry in place. Nothing damaged in the kitchen,
which has a one-piece vinyl-linoleum floor, but the vinyl tiles in part
of the little hall and in front of and to one side of the toilet were
loose. I didn't know if I could just glue them back with the proper
tile adhesive or if some would break and I'd have to do the whole hall
and powder room. What a pain that was going to be, finding a design I
liked and trimming around edges. But after a week or two everything
dried out and the floor tiles no longer moved. I had been careful to
put them back where they belonged when they had moved.

That was 3 years ago and now, like the kitchen in my mother's house 50
years ago, you can't even tell the floor was wet.

So if anyone could possibly shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated- thanks.

I have heard that new DW's have a life of 5 (or 10?) years. I heard it
here. I find it incredible. Mine is 34 years old and works fine. Got
clogged by a thin chicken bone once but that was the only problem.
(Actually it wasn't the DW that got clogged, it was the vacuum break
that's next to the sink faucet in some installations.) If this new
shorter life is even partially true, I would try to save the old DW.

Do you see this rust when the DW door is shut? EVen if you don't, you
might want to scrape off the rusty metal and fill any holes with Bondo,
normally used for filling dents in auto-bodies. Or a similar product.
Get one that is white when it dries. Practice a little with it before
using it on the DW so that you can put it on smooth and level (or
whatever level is called when a surface goes up and down.) All those
products can be sanded when dry.

Somehow my clothes washer in the basement got a bit rusty too. I think
from letting clothes not fully dried hang from the top of the washer.

They make E-POX-EE spray paint for appliances, mostly in white, that is
incredible. After it dries, it seems like the baked on enamel that I
think appliances are painted with in the first place. (Baked on?????)

I did a clothes washer top 38 years ago and it looked like new and never
chipped in the 5 years I had it. (Didn't use it enough and the main
basket bearing rusted and wouldn't move.)

The problem I have is that I'm reluctant, even with a clear
celu-something balloon around me, to paint in the basement. The paint
will get everywhere. You could actually take the DW outside, but I
don't think it's worth it. If the Bondo isn't white enough or glossy
enough, just brush on some glossy paint, thinly, so it doesn't run.

What kind of paint? Paint for metal I guess. Like Rustoleum. A 4
oz. can is probably enough.

Maybe it's solid underneath and you can just sand paper the rust off and
paint with the glossy paint. Maybe no need for Bondo.

On 1/30/2014 5:09 AM, Bubba wrote:
On 01/30/2014 01:54 AM, wrote:
Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please
see these photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/


Re the dishwasher, pull the toe-kick off and check for leaks/water
damage underneath.

Re the vacation pics, for the love of God, get your husband a new hat.
It borders on child abuse to make that cute little daughter of yours be
seen in public when her dad is wearing a hat like that. Sheeesh! ;-)


And, apologize to Dad about this hat:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4224553...n/photostream/

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Thursday, January 30, 2014 12:54:30 AM UTC-6, wrote:
Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/



So the question is, does whatever this is imply that the dishwasher has some critical problem? It does a great job cleaning the dishes- there is no issue with that aspect of it at all. But my husband is thinking that this may indicate that it is leaking, somehow (although we're not finding any water on the kitchen floor coinciding with its operation... but he's afraid that it may be seeping in areas that we can't see from the outside, and doing all sorts of scary internal damage to the house). So if anyone could possibly shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated- thanks.

You obviously don't clean your appliances and now they are rotting away from harsh detergent and steam released from the washer. It is must as matter of time before it starts leaking.

On Thursday, January 30, 2014 4:09:10 AM UTC-6, Bubba wrote:
On 01/30/2014 01:54 AM, wrote:

Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/



So the question is, does whatever this is imply that the dishwasher has some critical problem? It does a great job cleaning the dishes- there is no issue with that aspect of it at all. But my husband is thinking that this may indicate that it is leaking, somehow (although we're not finding any water on the kitchen floor coinciding with its operation... but he's afraid that it may be seeping in areas that we can't see from the outside, and doing all sorts of scary internal damage to the house). So if anyone could possibly shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated- thanks.





Re the dishwasher, pull the toe-kick off and check for leaks/water damage underneath.



Re the vacation pics, for the love of God, get your husband a new hat. It borders on child abuse to make that cute

little daughter of yours be seen in public when her dad is wearing a hat like that. Sheeesh! ;-)

pervert and child stalker .

On Thursday, January 30, 2014 5:46:07 AM UTC-5, micky wrote:
On Wed, 29 Jan 2014 22:54:30 -0800 (PST), wrote:



Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/



So the question is, does whatever this is imply that the dishwasher has some critical problem?



No.



I guess it depends on how you define critical problem.
It sure is seriously rusted, looks like hell and
it's probably not too much longer before the rust
which is right at the rubber seal affects the seal
and causes a leak. And at 11 years, it's probably at
the typical life expectancy these days.






It does a great job cleaning the dishes- there is no issue with that aspect of it at all. But my husband is thinking that this may indicate that it is leaking, somehow



Isn't the thick black line to the left of the rust the rubber gasket

that marks the boundary between the inside and outside of the DW?



And the rust is on the outside, right?


I don't see how a leak would cause that. That area is always going to
have some moisture present, no matter what you do. If it was leaking, you
should see water on the floor. I'd pull the bottom plate off and
take a look underneath. But it looks more like this was caused
by some kind of manufacturing defect in the metal and/or finish
application. I usually leave my DW door slightly ajar when it's
empty. If she did that, it might have lessened the ability for
moisture to remain in that area.

On Thursday, January 30, 2014 1:54:30 AM UTC-5, wrote:
Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/



So the question is, does whatever this is imply that the dishwasher has some critical problem? It does a great job cleaning the dishes- there is no issue with that aspect of it at all. But my husband is thinking that this may indicate that it is leaking, somehow (although we're not finding any water on the kitchen floor coinciding with its operation... but he's afraid that it may be seeping in areas that we can't see from the outside, and doing all sorts of scary internal damage to the house). So if anyone could possibly shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated- thanks.

Honestly, unless you're real handy and are willing to disassemble the DW, media blast it, and have it powdercoated, it's replacement time. That rust ain't gonna fix itself. It may or may not be leaking now, but it *will*.

Just don't cheap out on the new one. You'll have it for a decade or so, so get one that doesn't **** you off. The new phosphate-free detergents make the DW work less well than they did decades ago, so having multiple spray arms (I like ones with three; one top, one bottom, and one underneath the top rack) and good quality glides for the top rack (the ones GE has been using on their less expensive models are particularly awful - I've "inherited" three of them and they all stick in an irritating manner) will make your life much better.

good luck

nate

On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 07:32:54 -0800 (PST), N8N
wrote:

Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/


Might be time for a new DW.

Is Audrey's cap from the Bay Bridge across Choctawhatchee Bay to
Destin?

On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 07:32:54 -0800 (PST), N8N
wrote:

It may or may not be leaking now, but it *will*.

Leakage is the most common failure in DWs. A friend works for a
subrogation lawyer regarding insurance claims and sees it all the
time.

On 01/30/2014 12:54 AM, wrote:
Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/

So the question is, does whatever this is imply that the dishwasher has some critical problem? It does a great job cleaning the dishes- there is no issue with that aspect of it at all. But my husband is thinking that this may indicate that it is leaking, somehow (although we're not finding any water on the kitchen floor coinciding with its operation... but he's afraid that it may be seeping in areas that we can't see from the outside, and doing all sorts of scary internal damage to the house). So if anyone could possibly shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated- thanks.




That it disgusting and unsanitary. Even if you could get it fixed, how
are you going to get it disinfected?

It will of course have to be replaced as well as the surrounding area.


Also: When posting photos do not use a link where your personal photos
will be displayed. As you can see, this has now created quite a circus.


Also don't use your real email address or you will probably get spammed.

Daring Dufas: Hypocrite TeaBillie on welfare wrote:
On Thursday, January 30, 2014 12:54:30 AM UTC-6, wrote:
Hi. This is regarding my 11 year old Whirlpool dishwasher. Please see these photos:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813322735/



http://www.flickr.com/photos/42245531@N05/11813333655/



So the question is, does whatever this is imply that the dishwasher has some critical problem? It does a great job cleaning the dishes- there is no issue with that aspect of it at all. But my husband is thinking that this may indicate that it is leaking, somehow (although we're not finding any water on the kitchen floor coinciding with its operation... but he's afraid that it may be seeping in areas that we can't see from the outside, and doing all sorts of scary internal damage to the house). So if anyone could possibly shed some light on this, it would be greatly appreciated- thanks.

You obviously don't clean your appliances and now they are rotting away from harsh detergent and steam released from the washer. It is must as matter of time before it starts leaking.

Hmmm,
That rust is a sign of leak, most likely from the gasket seal lining.
Not much but enough to cause rust. I am replacing our DW today. It
still works but preemptive strike B4 it quits together. Right now
it is washing it's last load. As soon as it finishes, I am pulling it
out. Thanks GE washer for 20 years good service. Here comes Bosch I
hope you will do as good as GE you are replacing.

On Thursday, January 30, 2014 12:26:16 PM UTC-5, Oren wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 07:32:54 -0800 (PST), N8N

wrote:



It may or may not be leaking now, but it *will*.



Leakage is the most common failure in DWs. A friend works for a

subrogation lawyer regarding insurance claims and sees it all the

time.

Hah... at my last house the DW when we looked at it the first time was an ancient Maytag unit. We asked the sellers if it worked and they couldn't say, as they hadn't used it the entire time they'd lived there (odd people. Nice, but odd.) We were going to make an offer on the place anyway, but apparently their realtor told them to replace it to make the house more marketable. When we showed up for the final walk through it'd been replaced with a new bottom of the barrel GE unit. The moron installers didn't put a clamp on the hose to the sink drain pipe... yeah, you guessed it. I'd rather they'd left it alone... I would have tried to repair the old Maytag, myself.

nate

N8N wrote:
On Thursday, January 30, 2014 12:26:16 PM UTC-5, Oren wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 07:32:54 -0800 (PST), N8N

wrote:



It may or may not be leaking now, but it *will*.



Leakage is the most common failure in DWs. A friend works for a

subrogation lawyer regarding insurance claims and sees it all the

time.

Hah... at my last house the DW when we looked at it the first time was an
ancient Maytag unit. We asked the sellers if it worked and they couldn't
say, as they hadn't used it the entire time they'd lived there (odd
people. Nice, but odd.) We were going to make an offer on the place
anyway, but apparently their realtor told them to replace it to make the
house more marketable. When we showed up for the final walk through it'd
been replaced with a new bottom of the barrel GE unit. The moron
installers didn't put a clamp on the hose to the sink drain pipe...
yeah, you guessed it. I'd rather they'd left it alone... I would have
tried to repair the old Maytag, myself.

nate

I went cheap with a DW replacement many years back. Bad idea...

When the old KitchenAid that came with the house finally died, I went to a
used appliance store and picked up a no-frills GE that was still wrapped in
the original plastic. Turns out not only was it no-frills unit but it was
also broken. The soap dispenser door wouldn't open. The guy I bought it
from determined the door spring was missing. He found one that would fit
and installed it.

The unit lasted maybe a year and then all sorts of things started going
wrong with it. It was so cheap that I probably got my money's worth out of
it from a usage perspective, but not from a convenience perspective. Way
too many hassles.

It just doesn't pay to go cheap.

Thanks everyone for your replies to my post. Well first, to answer the questions:

Bubba- I'm not sure what you mean by the "toe-kick"... there is a plate at the bottom, below the dishwasher door, held in by screws, so perhaps that's what you're referring to?

micky- yes, that vertical black strip in the photos is the rubber seal, and yes all the gunk (everyone seems to think that's rust- I honestly wasn't even sure what the heck it was) is only on the outside. And no rust is visible when the dishwasher door is shut. Also in addition to there being no puddles on the floor during/after the dishwasher runs, there also isn't any steam coming out from it when it runs either.

philo- lesson learned, about my personal photos being accessible from those links to the dishwasher photos... (and as for my e-mail address- the full address of the Gmail account I'm using to post, isn't visible on this page. And even if it does get spam, it's not my primary e-mail account- this Gmail account is just the address I use for things like this, so that my "real" e-mail stays spam-free.)

But anyway, as to the hats... I don't consider myself or my husband to have expert knowledge regarding appliances, so I posted in the hopes of getting more informed opinions that could help us with our decision, but now unfortunately all this dissin' on his hat will undermine your credibility with him because he really happens to love that Tilley hat. (And Oren- the hat my daughter is wearing in those photos is actually from the new span of the SF Bay Bridge- a massive project that was just completed this past September. A friend of ours was very involved with this, and gave us a whole bunch of schwag from it.)

O.K., now back to the dishwasher: it seems the consensus (although not completely unanimous) is that it actually should be replaced. As far as how it looks, yes I'll admit that it doesn't look so great, but I should say that I really don't care how it looks, because as I said all that is not visible when the dishwasher door is closed, which it usually is. So just for the sake of
appearance, I'm not terribly motivated to do anything about it. So unless it signals a real problem that is more than just appearance, I'm reluctant to replace it because (a) it does clean the dishes very well, as I've said, and (b) 11 years doesn't really seem like all that long to me, for the dishwasher to already be failing (but that opinion may just be more of my ignorance
of these matters...) and (c) a new dishwasher is a rather significant expense (which as everyone has now seen, I'd much rather spend on things like fun vacations). But if it is necessary and not just a cosmetic problem, then I guess I may have no choice... Well thanks again, all.

On 01/30/2014 03:56 PM, wrote:
es, so I posted in the hopes of getting more informed opinions that could help us with our decision, but now unfortunately all this dissin' on his hat will undermine your credibility with him because he really happens to love that Tilley hat. (And Oren- the hat my daughter is wearing in those photos is actually from the new span of the SF Bay Bridge- a massive project that was just completed this past September. A friend of ours was very involved with this, and gave us a whole bunch of schwag from it.)

O.K., now back to the dishwasher: it seems the consensus (although not completely unanimous) is that it actually should be replaced. As far as how it looks, yes I'll admit that it doesn't look so great, but I should say that I really don't care how it looks, because as I said all that is not visible when the dishwasher door is closed, which it usually is. So just for the sake of
appearance, I'm not terribly motivated to do anything about it. So unless it signals a real problem that is more than just appearance, I'm reluctant to replace it because (a) it does clean the dishes very well, as I've said, and (b) 11 years doesn't really seem like all that long to me, for the dishwasher to already be failing (but that opinion may just be more of my ignorance
of these matters...) and (c) a new dishwasher is a rather significant expense (which as everyone has now seen, I'd much rather spend on things like fun vacations). But if it is necessary and not just a cosmetic problem, then I guess I may have no choice... Well thanks again, all.



If it works and you do not plan to replace it,,,at least,,get the leak
fixed and clean up the "gunk".

On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:56:35 -0800 (PST), wrote:



micky- yes, that vertical black strip in the photos is the rubber seal, and=
yes all the gunk (everyone seems to think that's rust-

I only thought it was rust because of the color. That doesn't mean it
is rust. If it's just scummy dirt/gunk, wash it off and you're good to
go.

I honestly wasn't e=
ven sure what the heck it was) is only on the outside. And no rust is visi=
ble when the dishwasher door is shut. Also in addition to there being no p=
uddles on the floor during/after the dishwasher runs, there also isn't any =
steam coming out from it when it runs either.

Yes, the toe-kick means t he panel on the bottom. Definitely you can
take that off and look for puddles. You could even look underneath
while the DW is running. But actually, I don't see why or how a drip
underneath would make theose rust-colored things in the front, so
there's no reason to think it's dripping underneath.

On Thursday, January 30, 2014 10:05:50 PM UTC-5, micky wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:56:35 -0800 (PST), wrote:







micky- yes, that vertical black strip in the photos is the rubber seal, and=

yes all the gunk (everyone seems to think that's rust-



I only thought it was rust because of the color. That doesn't mean it

is rust. If it's just scummy dirt/gunk, wash it off and you're good to

go.


It sure looks like rust to me. You can even see where the metal
is gone and there are depressions.






I honestly wasn't e=

ven sure what the heck it was) is only on the outside. And no rust is visi=

ble when the dishwasher door is shut. Also in addition to there being no p=

uddles on the floor during/after the dishwasher runs, there also isn't any =

steam coming out from it when it runs either.



Yes, the toe-kick means t he panel on the bottom. Definitely you can

take that off and look for puddles. You could even look underneath

while the DW is running. But actually, I don't see why or how a drip

underneath would make theose rust-colored things in the front, so

there's no reason to think it's dripping underneath.

Which is why I said it looked like a manufacturing defect to me,
where the coating was not applied correctly to the metal.

On Fri, 31 Jan 2014 04:53:55 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Thursday, January 30, 2014 10:05:50 PM UTC-5, micky wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:56:35 -0800 (PST), wrote:







micky- yes, that vertical black strip in the photos is the rubber seal, and=

yes all the gunk (everyone seems to think that's rust-



I only thought it was rust because of the color. That doesn't mean it

is rust. If it's just scummy dirt/gunk, wash it off and you're good to

go.


It sure looks like rust to me. You can even see where the metal
is gone and there are depressions.

Well it's up to her and her hubby to decide.

If it is rust, I should have recoomended that rust converter, sold in
rather small plastic bottles at auto parts stores, that goes on right
over the rust and turns it into some sort of plastic.. I used it once
and it seemed to do a good job. It can be painted white afterwards.
Maybe it can be sanded too. Better than Bondo alone.

That dishwasher should be replaced within a year or less. That rust is rally bad, never seen anything close to that bad in 50+years of seeing dishwashers.

Hmmm,
That rust is a sign of leak, most likely from the gasket seal lining.
Not much but enough to cause rust. I am replacing our DW today. It
still works but preemptive strike B4 it quits together.

It's a good thing you're replacing it now. If you wait until it
actually breaks, you might actually have to wash some dishes by hand.
The horror!!

Or you might have to use paper plates for a couple days. How tacky!

Right now
it is washing it's last load. As soon as it finishes, I am pulling it
out. Thanks GE washer for 20 years good service. Here comes Bosch I
hope you will do as good as GE you are replacing.